Amelie Mauresmo has struggled with injuries and a drop in the rankings since winning the 2006 Australian Open. She has slumped from No. 1 to No. 18 in the two years after capturing her first Grand Slam, when Justine Henin defaulted in the final with a stomach illness. That Australian Open win led to more success for Mauresmo, who won the 2006 Wimbledon title and held the top ranking for 35 weeks.

In her darkest moments, Sania Mirza wonders if she should quit tennis. The Indian tennis star wishes her only concern before a match was to study her opponent. But it is hardly that simple. Instead, she’s taking phone calls from lawyers in India, answering questions about her loyalty to her country and defending her Muslim beliefs.

Fabrice Santoro is rarely mentioned in the same breath with players such as Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors. At the Australian Open on Tuesday, the French journeyman surpassed them all — at least in one statistic. The 35-year-old Santoro broke Andre Agassi’s record for most appearances at Grand Slam events in the Open era when he beat American John Isner in straight sets on Court 13…

Three-time French Open champion Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten will retire from professional tennis after playing at Roland Garros this year. Kuerten will enter only six tournaments in 2008 before ending his 14-year career, the Brazilian said in a news conference on Tuesday. “I reached my limit because of my physical condition,” Kuerten said.

A match was held up Tuesday while police used pepper spray to subdue three spectators and ejected five fans from the grounds at the Australian Open. The match between a finalist from last year, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, and Greece’s Konstantinos Economidis was stopped for five minutes while police ejected the spectators, tournament officials and police said.

Olympus America Inc. will become the first title sponsor of the US Open Series of summer tennis tournaments under a six-year deal with the U.S. Tennis Association announced Monday. The agreement will be worth more than $60 million to the USTA, between rights payments and a commitment by Olympus America to buy advertising during U.S.

The two ladies dressed in oversized Uncle Sam hats and with American flags painted on their faces don’t know what they missed. They left after the second set. Lindsay Davenport lost the second but recovered in the deciding set to win her first-round match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 over Sara Errani at the Australian Open on Monday, her first major since giving birth last June and after taking an extended…

A group of aboriginal kids gather around their lifelong hero on a wind-swept tennis court in suburban Melbourne. Listening to her every word, they watch closely as Evonne Goolagong pulls the racket head back and gracefully follows through a mock shot, their mouths agape. Goolagong had that effect on the tennis world at her peak.

Novak Djokovic’s first Grand Slam final has him hankering for another. “Considering the fact that my best performances were on the outdoor hard courts, I can hope for a good result here in the Australian Open,” a confident Djokovic, who lost to Roger Federer in the U.S. Open final, said Saturday. “I showed my quality in 2007 many times, and I think I deserve to be here.” Federer, Rafael Nadal and…

Without the glare of the cameras, or the roar of an appreciative crowd, Roger Federer shanked forehands and hit some backhands long inside Rod Laver Arena. His girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, was with him at Melbourne Park’s center court, wearing flip-flops in the intense heat and collecting wayward balls as Federer hit with Swiss Davis Cup captain Serevin Luethi.

Nikolay Davydenko is fed up with the ATP’s drawn-out investigation into suspicious betting patterns surrounding one of his matches. The men’s tennis tour is still looking into the Russian’s match against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland last August. An online betting site voided all wagers on the match because of irregular betting patterns.

David Nalbandian injured his back practicing with Marat Safin at Melbourne Park on Wednesday and withdrew from the upcoming Kooyong tournament. Nalbandian, a 26-year-old Argentine whose past two title wins came over No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal at the Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris in October, said he is doubtful to compete in next week’s Australian Open.

Tennis appears to be replacing golf as the hot advertising place to be in the 21st century. It’s certainly popular for automotive brands that want to reach an upscale audience of loyal, dedicated fans. Leading the way for several years has been Mercedes-Benz USA Inc. Mercedes has been the

Publication: Automotive News